How Special Glasses Can Help Colorblind People See Color

What it colorblindness?

Three hundred million people around the world are affected by red-green color deficiency. This deficiency is often referred to as color blindness. People with this condition aren’t actually blind to color. Instead, they have a difficult time telling the difference between different color families. Reds look muted, greens look dull, and sometimes people are not able to see the difference in shades or hues within these two color families.

Now a new type of lens technology in special glasses exists to help the colorblind distinguish colors. And according to initial reports, those who try these new lenses are experiencing a whole new world.

How do the special glasses work?

This is the interesting part! As compared to a person who perceives color normally, the colorblind person does not perceive light signals equally. In other words, they don’t see as much red or green in light signals as a person with regular vision. While someone with regular color vision perceives light signals all at the same level, the colorblind person does not.

EnChroma, the manufacturer of special glasses for the colorblind, has created a technology that can improve this imbalance. The lenses in the special EnChroma glasses work to separate light into its primary spectral components before they reach the eye. Using a patented technology, each lens removes small slices of light allowing the eye time to re-establish balance between the three different photo-pigments of color.

Though these lenses can’t “cure” color blindness, they can certainly help those who struggle to see color normally, appreciate new hues of red and green, like never before. You’ve probably seen the touching videos in your feed of different people experiencing color vision for the very first time.

EnChroma offers sunglasses as well as indoor glasses and glasses for kids. The glasses also come in a wide variety of stylish frames. Because these glasses look exactly like regular optical glasses or sunglasses, no one would ever know that you were wearing this special type of corrective lens!

Some reviewers say that seeing the outdoor world through the EnChroma sunglasses was more dramatic than using the indoor glasses. Non-prescription versions of these glasses for the colorblind are relatively expensive, averaging around $400 for adult frames with lenses. For those who long to see the world in vibrant color, the indulgence may be worth it.